Who would want injury prone. I like this guy, but if he can't stay healthy he must say good bye to NBA.

I personally wonder how much of his sitting last year had to do with injury and how much had to do with a mutual pending divorce from the Raptors. I was happy when the Raps signed him, felt he was slightly overpaid, and was upset as his inconsistent usage. I still think he could be a decent small-ball stretch-4 on the 2nd unit, allowing him to utilize both his post-up abilities and streaky outside shooting. If his salary was more in the $2.5-3M range, he'd be a great 5th forward to be used to exploit mismatches (post-up undersized SFs, stretch-4 against good interior defending PFs) on the 2nd unit.

If he is even somewhat healthy, I could see him helping out a team like Houston, who is desperate for 3pt shooting. If Raps do amnesty him, I could see several teams kicking the tires and offering minimum contracts.

I'm pretty sure some team will pick him from waivers. I mean they can have him for 1 million or whatever and Raps will pay the rest. Why not have a guy like him as an 'insurance" in case your backup SF or PF goes down... I can even imagine a title contender picking him up for depth... be it Houston, OKC, Spurs, Miami, Chicago...... could be extemely interesting for some teams, especially if he stays healthy and produces more than expected. I mean he was injured for a while, but obviously most of last year he didn't play for other reasons. As somebody mentioned, it was an "ongoing divorce".

If not for that injury right after Raps signed him, I think he could have been a very productive bench player/ situational player.

Amnesty Fever indeed

From Zach Lowe at Grantland.com:

Toronto Raptors: Linas Kleiza

Kleiza has always been a more likely Raptor amnesty cut than Andrea Bargnani, but with Bargs in New York (and wearing Ray Bourque’s number), Kleiza becomes the only candidate on the board. The Raptors don’t really need him. Kleiza has barely played in three seasons in the T-Dot, and there won’t be a lot of minutes for him with Tyler Hansbrough on board and Dwane Casey curious about how Rudy Gay might function as a small-ball power forward. The Raptors project at about $1.75 million over the tax, meaning using amnesty on Kleiza’s $4.6 million would take them under it — wiping out a $2.6 million tax bill and giving Toronto access to the revenue-sharing distribution for teams that come in under the tax (about $1.47 million per team last season). That’s not nothing.

But the Raptors might also be able to net a second-round pick in exchange for Kleiza’s expiring dealat the trade deadline if he shows glimpses of his old game. Is banking on that possibility better than about $4.3 million in certain total savings? They could also deal Kleiza for a player they actually like (but some other team doesn't) and duck the tax by coming to a cheap buyout agreement with Marcus Camby.

I don't think amnestying him is as open and shut a case as one, myself included, might think. Lowe raises good points in that last paragraph.

Kleiza and Camby were the first players that jumped to my mind when MU talked about working the phones discussing trades and possibly seeing some moves made over the next 4-5 days. I think MU will be extremely aggressive in an attempt to turn Kleiza into something useful, with amnesty being an ultimate last resort. If MU can dump Camby's salary, that would allow him to carry Kleiza into the season without being over the luxury tax line, to potentially use him as an asset at the trade deadline. If any/all of this is true, I really like the way MU manages his assets and tries everything he can to maximize their long-term value to the Raptors.

But it's still so hard to picture anyone giving the team something for Kleiza. The paragraph mentions "if he shows glimpses of his old game", but where will he get those minutes? He'd have to show something really special in camp, given he has to outplay Hansbrough, Acy, Fields, and Novak for minutes...sorry, backup minutes.

I do think it's possible there will be limited opportunities to trade him during the season...I'm not sure any of those scenarios are better than amnestying him.

But it's still so hard to picture anyone giving the team something for Kleiza. The paragraph mentions "if he shows glimpses of his old game", but where will he get those minutes? He'd have to show something really special in camp, given he has to outplay Hansbrough, Acy, Fields, and Novak for minutes...sorry, backup minutes.

I do think it's possible there will be limited opportunities to trade him during the season...I'm not sure any of those scenarios are better than amnestying him.

You forgot Eurobasket. It may be possible to trade him if he shows good play up there.

No I didn't. But I think by now people know not to expect his National Team performances to indicate anything about his NBA utility. Kleiza always plays better on that stage. Being a tweener is less of an issue internationally. Partly out of style...partly because the physical issues that make him a liability in the NBA are not really a factor. He's got good enough size for a PF, especially given his shooting range, and most teams don't have USA-like athletes at SF.

I suppose there are some bad GMs who don't know how to evaluate such information though. After all, BC did sign him to this contract largely based on his year abroad and subsequent international play.